Donald Trump is widely condemned after making controversial comments about the death of Rob Reiner.
After the bodies of Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 68, were found Sunday in their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, Trump took to social media with an apathetic comment about the late director.
The US president used words like “tortured and struggling” for Reiner before claiming he died “as a result of the anger he caused in others by his enormous, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as TRUMP DISTURBANCE SYNDROME.”
Trump later told reporters: “I wasn’t a fan of him at all, he was a crazy person as far as Trump was concerned… He hurt himself in his career, he became like a crazy person,” while also praising his own performance and administration.
The Reiners’ 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested Monday on suspicion of murdering his parents, with bail set at $4 million.
Public reaction to Trump’s comments was immediate as actor Patrick Schwarzenegger called the statements “disgusting and vile,” while Whoopi Goldberg also condemned the comments.
Several lawmakers also criticized Trump, including Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who called him a “despicable piece of trash,” and Republican Thomas Massie, who called the comments “inappropriate and disrespectful” to a brutally murdered man.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also wrote: “This is a sick man.”
Reiner has been an outspoken critic of Trump for years, once calling him “mentally unfit” for office and warning of the risks of autocracy if he wins a second term.
